Stalin meets Kanimozhi

The senior DMK leader on Tuesday met his half-sister at a trial court in Delhi

A broad smile was Kanimozhi's reply to a question from her half-brother MK Stalin on how she was doing in Tihar Jail when they came face to face at a trial court in the Capital. Stalin, clad in his trademark white shirt and dhoti, waited for 30 minutes at the Special CBI court at Patiala House Court complex for his sister to arrive.


Family way: DMK leaders MK Stalin(left) and Kanimozhi. File pics

A composed Kanimozhi came inside the court of Judge OP Saini and smiled at her husband Aravindan and others present. Then, the senior DMK leader stood up and greeted former Telecom Minister A Raja, who is also in jail, and shook hands with him. As he saw Kanimozhi walking towards his seat, Stalin asked: "How are you doing?"
Her answer was just a smile; all three stood for a while before being nudged by DMK Parliamentary Party leader TR Baalu to sit. Stalin sat between Kanimozhi and Raja and tried to find out from them about the conditions in the prison and how they were being treated.

All three then settled for an interaction in Tamil that lasted 50 minutes. "How is father?" a concerned Kanimozhi asked Stalin, to which he replied: "He is doing fine." DMK chief M Karunanidhi had met Kanimozhi at Tihar jail on Monday.

Then Kanimozhi asked her brother about the well-being of his family members in Chennai. In between, Kanimozhi and Raja were seen talking to each other. Though the atmosphere was emotionally charged, both Stalin and Kanimozhi were seen conversing casually.

Stalin also spoke to Sharad Kumar, the Managing Director of Kalaignar TV, and asked him how he was doing. "Life is tough (in jail)," an emotional Kumar said as he asked his wife for some water. Though Kanimozhi's husband Aravindan was present at the court room from the beginning, Stalin neither exchanged pleasantries nor spoke to him. After spending nearly an hour with Kanimozhi, Stalin told her that he was leaving the court complex so that he can meet his father at the hotel where he is staying before he took his flight to Chennai. Kanimozhi stood and smiled as her brother left the court room.

Order, order
One of the followers of jailed DMK MP Kanimozhi had a tough time in a Delhi court on Tuesday which first ordered his detention and then let him off with a stern warning for clicking the photograph of his leader inside the courtroom. "I tender unconditional apology to this court," a visibly shaken Suhail Hindustani told the court with folded hands when he was brought again before it.Almost half-an-hour before, was detained for taking photographs of Kanimozhi along with her minor son Adithya sitting on her lap. Hindustani was caught off guard when Special CBI Judge OP Saini asked policemen, present in the courtroom, to take him in custody. "Be silent. Get out from here," Saini said tersely.